Our History

John Heath was born in 1835 and had been in business in Sheffield for a number of years as a Carriage Master, Cabinet Maker and Funeral Undertaker before he established his firm of Funeral Directors in the name of John Heath and Sons in 1880.

Over the past 135 years John Heath & Sons has expanded and adapted to meet the changing needs of the public, and is now probably the oldest and largest firm of Funeral Directors in the North of England still owned and run completely by its original family. Michael Heath and Richard Heath, the great great grandsons of the first John Heath take pride in the fact that the sixth generation of their family, Adam Heath and Jason Heath are continuing to serve the community of Sheffield.

We were the first firm of Funeral Directors in the provinces to build a Private Chapel. We now have a dozen individual Private Chapels of Rest adjacent to main Chapel where a deceased person can be kept in a reverent manner until the time of a Funeral, and where bereaved families can visit in an atmosphere of quiet dignity. More recently, John Heath & Sons have expanded and acquired Chapels of Rest in Banner Cross, Crookes, Stannington, Penistone, Stocksbridge, Ecclesfield and Hollinsend.

John Heath & Sons still produce hand-crafted coffins in their own workshops from solid timber, and indeed can produce an Upholstered Cremation Coffin, a Solid Mahogany Coffin, or exclusively a Traditional Solid English Oak Coffin. They are still made to the designs drawn up by the original John Heath.

In John Heath & Sons’ second century the Heath family and Staff aim to maintain the personal attention, caring approach and sense of vocation which have characterised the operation of the firm over the past 135 years.